


My Dinner with Vala

by Aelfgyfu



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-25
Updated: 2014-05-25
Packaged: 2018-01-26 12:15:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,405
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1688039
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aelfgyfu/pseuds/Aelfgyfu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Missing scene for "The Ties that Bind." Jack takes the gang out to dinner while they're in DC and gets a chance to size up Vala—and Vala, to size up Jack.</p>
            </blockquote>





	My Dinner with Vala

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks again to Redbyrd and to my husband for their help with this story!
> 
> Stargate Fan Awards 2007 winner SG-1 Gen: Best Humor, Other Duet
> 
>  
> 
> Disclaimer: Stargate SG-1 and its characters belong to Showtime, Gekko, MGM-UA, Glassner/Wright Double Secret Productions, Stargate SG-1 Prod. Ltd. Partnership, and probably some other person or entity whom I’ve forgotten. No copyright infringement is intended. In fact, this story makes no sense if you haven’t seen the show, so I encourage you to watch! And buy all the DVDs! Just like I do! The dialogue and plot (such as it is) are my own.

Jack O'Neill pushed papers around his desk and wondered when the group would arrive. He had picked a good restaurant, he was sure of that. He checked his watch. Any minute now. He pushed some more papers. Then he heard voices, and he had his door open in time to watch his assistant make a futile attempt to stop the unruly group in the outer office from penetrating his inner sanctum. "Johnson, I told you to show them in when they got here!" Johnson looked from the group to his superior and back, finally realizing that this _was_ the group the General meant. He made apologetic noises. Jack did feel a little sorry for the young officer some days; he was a nice kid, but he couldn't keep up.

"Hi, Hank. Nice suit, T!"

Teal'c nodded slightly. "It is Hugo Boss."

But Jack wasn't really looking at Teal'c. He looked Vala up and down and smiled at her. "I knew this was a mistake," Daniel muttered to himself as Jack began, "Vala! I've heard so much about you! I'm sorry I missed you in my quick trip to the SGC! Meetings," he added unnecessarily.

"Jack, meet Vala; Vala, Jack." Daniel waved in their direction and walked past them both to look out Jack's window. "Nice view." Daniel was staring out Jack's window at the window in the next ring.

"Well, George promised me a window." He waved at it. "I got a window. Look up! _Sky_." He noted with satisfaction that Daniel automatically looked up and turned back to find Vala standing surprisingly close to him. "So, how are you finding Earth?"

"Don't ask that," Daniel begged. "Ask how Earth is finding her," he added in an undertone.

Vala perched on the corner of Jack's desk after sweeping aside the phone and several files that Jack had just meticulously moved from one side of the desk to the other. She crossed her legs. "Your planet on the whole seems to take itself _way_ too seriously."

"I can't argue with that." Jack smiled.

"Oh, she's just getting warmed up," Daniel warned.

"Jack, if you have to take us out to dinner, can we just _go_ to dinner?" Landry asked as Vala started, "I think--" "We do have a plane to catch," the general reminded the group, heedless of Vala's thoughts.

"I'm telling you, taking her out _anywhere_ is a mistake," Daniel said.

"Can I talk?" Vala demanded.

"No!" said Daniel, Landry, and Teal'c in unison.

Jack gaped for just a moment but recovered and asked, "So, how did the hearing go?"

"Oh, just great," Landry replied. "The Senator was convinced that _your_ good work means we don't really need the Stargate any more. We've defeated the Replicators, the Goa'uld...."

"He thinks we made up the Ori," Daniel interjected.

"What?"

"Well, Dr. Jackson _was_ comatose when he met them, which wasn't a great help. And Vala--" Landry glared at her. She grinned and shrugged. "Vala told the Senator our planet is pathetic, and that he wants to build more ships to compensate for his...." Landry hesitated.

"Size problem," supplied Vala helpfully. "Insufficient--" She lowered her eyes to cast a look at Jack that left no doubt what she meant.

"Ah! Look at the time!" said Jack without a glance at his watch. "You're right, Hank, we'd better go."

Daniel glared at Jack as he swept past him towards the door, hissing, "You've seen her; you still think you want to take _her_ out in _public_?"

"Nice to see you again too!"

Landry paused before leaving the office. "Jackson's right, you know. Taking her to a restaurant? You're crazy." Jack shrugged, and Landry added, "I'm only going along to watch. Could be spectacular."

 

When Jack told them he would take his own car, Vala immediately insisted that she and Daniel ride with him, and Daniel agreed. Landry, noting that Jack's car could not hold five (especially when one was Teal'c, though Landry left that unsaid), quickly sought the Air Force van driver who had brought them to the Pentagon; Jack was disappointed that Teal'c went with him. Vala grabbed the front passenger seat immediately, and Daniel took the back with a loud sigh. The short drive to the restaurant was filled with Vala's version of events since her first arrival on Earth.

"... so then the Prior let him drop from the wall, and two of his henchmen scooped Daniel up, and they picked _me_ up bodily. Of course, I put up a better fight than Daniel, but there were four or five of them on me," Vala was saying when Jack started paying attention again.

"A bit more colorful than your reports, Daniel," Jack said.

"Oh, I just gave up correcting her version about half an hour ago."

"We only got in the car 25 minutes ago!"

"Right. Well, I suppose I actually gave up correcting her several days ago. Wait a minute: you mean you've been reading my reports?"

"Of course!" Jack made a face into the rear-view mirror. "I'm hurt that you would ever think otherwise."

"Um, well--so, Jack, how's Washington?" Daniel reiterated the question he had asked two or three times before. It had previously been drowned out.

Jack was ready to answer. "Lousy traffic, way too many boring meetings, mountains of paperwork--but some good restaurants." 

He was going to say more, but Vala cut in, "Oh, good! Daniel won't let me out to taste any of your food. Or see any of your lovely planet. Not that we haven't been busy _ourselves_ , of course," she added with a suggestive glance back at Daniel. "Perhaps he just doesn't want to share me?"

"Daniel?"

Daniel huffed and crossed his arms, which Jack thought odd, because he could have sworn Daniel had been sitting with his arms crossed the whole time. 

"Well, you could at least show her a good time! When's the last time you had a date, for God's sake?" Jack grinned and glanced back.

"Oh, I don't know, when was the last one? Gee, I guess that would be Destroyer of Worlds, not too long after my wife died!" Jack was in trouble now.

"Wife?" Vala asked. "Daniel! You never told me...."

Jack could feel Daniel's glare boring into the back of his head. "So, Vala, do you have anybody waiting for you at home?" Jack winced, knowing how stupid it sounded, but he was desperate.

"I, well, _I_...can't stand to be tied down." Jack was surprised that Vala stumbled here, but she quickly recovered, turning back toward Daniel while still addressing Jack. "Though Daniel here _might_ be able to change my mind. We have a certain--"

"Problem! We have a certain mutual _problem_! Which is _your_ fault!" He waved his fist at her. It took Jack a moment to realize that he was really indicating the now-absent bracelet.

Jack couldn't stop himself. "Can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em."

"That's exactly it!" cried Vala. Leaning towards Jack, she whispered, "So you've had this problem with him too?"

Jack was quite relieved to announce that they were about to turn into the parking lot.

 

Jack had asked for a quiet table apart and actually managed to get one, but by now he was thinking that what they really needed was a table in a private room. Or a private home, but he wasn't taking Vala to his place. Vala had managed to take a seat between Daniel and Jack and was making Daniel translate and explain the menu in great detail. "You eat _what_?" she broke in from time to time while Jack tried to get Teal'c to fill him in on the latest without saying anything classified.

A waiter appeared and began running through the specials. Vala looked to Daniel. "Have the calamari appetizer," he advised. "You'll love it. Or the escargot." 

"Ooh!" she said, leaning to nudge his shoulder with his while favoring the waiter with a broad grin. "I can't decide! Let's get both! We can share!"

Landry caught the waiter's eye. "We're actually a little pressed for time; can we order our entrées now too?" The waiter nodded and took orders. 

Daniel said while smiling at Vala, "We'll both have the lobster."

The rest of the table managed to get their orders in while Daniel continued to smile at Vala and Vala tried to look as though she knew exactly what was going on.

"So, Daniel?"

"So, Jack?"

"How's Mitchell doing?"

"He's dull," Vala answered for Daniel. "Hopeless." 

"Actually, he's a nice guy," Daniel said. "Very sharp; he did great on the tests at Avalon, even figuring out one for himself, and then beating their holographic knight. Although I was really surprised to find the Ancients using Arabic numerals (which are actually Indian in origin)...." Jack raised a finger to get Daniel back on track, and he added, "He's a good listener--very interested in learning about other cultures and civilizations." 

"Indeed," Teal'c contributed unexpectedly. "He showed great enthusiasm during DanielJackson's briefing on Avalon."

"Wow. That's, that's--"

"Quite a change." Daniel smirked. 

"Well _I_ think that _you_ must have made a much better leader," Vala said, leaning toward Jack. "It's a shame you aren't running the Mountain anymore. I have heard so much about you!" Jack frowned at Daniel, but it was a while before anyone else got to talk again. When the appetizers arrived, Vala broke off and leaned forward to sniff the food suspiciously. Daniel began eating with exaggerated pleasure, and she tried to imitate him.

"Doesn't your planet have anything better to offer?" Vala asked loudly while the two generals tried to shush her. "I mean, this," she said, holding up her second escargot on a little fork, "this looks like a tiny little pe--" 

"It is a gastropod," Teal'c supplied. "It is called a ‘snail'."

Daniel smiled and enjoyed another snail.

"But these," Vala said with relish after downing some calamari, "are really good. What are they called again?" Daniel began giving more detail about what calamari were than he could possibly have justified, but Vala was unfazed and quickly wiped them out, leaving the rest of the escargot to Daniel.

"Well, I want to hear all about your planet," she said with a huge grin at Jack. "They"--she jerked her head to indicate the rest of the table--"don't tell me much."

"Really? Daniel's not constantly explaining Earth--I mean, various cultures--to you?" 

"Oh, he is! But it's not the _important_ stuff. I sense that _you_ , General O'Neill, have a firm grasp of what is important." She emphasized Jack's title, according him a respect she showed no one else at the table.

Daniel excused himself. Jack watched the archaeologist retreat. "Teal'c? How far is that bathroom?"

"It is approximately sixteen meters."

"That's fine, Jack," Landry said. "Dr. Lee estimates they can be a hundred feet apart without trouble, and they have to be separated for a while before anything happens."

Jack made a show of counting on his fingers and muttering as he converted meters to feet. "As long as Daniel doesn't try to escape out the back window, then, we're fine?" Jack queried. 

Landry snorted. "And if he _does_ try to escape through the window, we'll know soon enough when Vala goes--" he raised an arm and let it fall on the table. "He doesn't have your car keys, does he, Jack?"

Hank was just making jokes that Jack might have made himself, given a chance, Jack decided after a moment's hesitation and a long glance in the direction Daniel had gone.

"Well, what can I tell you?" Jack asked. He added in a low tone so that no one else could hear, "Ours is a planet with many different governments and cultures."

Vala looked at him as if he'd said something very rude. "Oh, not you too!"

"What?" asked Jack, looking around.

"If I wanted a boring old lecture, I'd ask Daniel. Or Teal'c, who has also been very obliging in that regard," Vala added with a glare in the direction of the Jaffa, who nodded with satisfaction. "Though Teal'c is at least briefer than Daniel."

"Well, what do you _want_ me to say?"

"Something _exciting_. I mean, what do you people do for fun?"

"Well, there's fishing, hockey--"

"Don't forget bowling and chess!" added Landry helpfully.

"Has DanielJackson not introduced you to television?" asked Teal'c. 

"Teal'c! You should show her! You're a real pro! Try not to leave her with too bad an impression of our culture," he added, glancing behind the Jaffa again.

"It is not too far, O'Neill," Teal'c assured him, answering Jack's worry rather than his words with a tilt of his head toward the restroom.

"I think I could use a pit stop myself," Jack said, finally getting up.

"Pit stop?" Vala asked.

"And I thought only _women_ went to powder their noses together," Landry said in a stage whisper, leaning towards Teal'c.

"I do not believe that either O'Neill or DanielJackson will ‘powder his nose,'" Teal'c stated authoritatively. Landry bit off a reply and then looked at his watch.

Jack heard "You powder your noses in _pits_?" behind him. "With _what_?" He looked back; people at distant tables were turning their heads.

 

Jack heard the water start to run as soon as he set foot in the bathroom, but he knew it hadn't been on a moment ago. Daniel was washing his hands industriously.

"Are you okay?

"Oh, fine. Peachy, even!" Daniel smiled too broadly. Jack noticed that there were in fact no windows in the bathroom.

"She's driving you nuts."

"Of course she's driving me nuts! If she's not driving you nuts, it's only because you haven't known her long enough! Or because you take some kind of perverse pleasure in my discomfiture."

"Discomfiture?"

"Don't play dumb, Jack."

"Hey," Jack said. "Somebody has to. Come on: I hardly see you and Teal'c any more; I thought we could have a good time!"

"And we could, without Vala."

"Wouldn't be a good time for you. Not for long, anyway."

Daniel sighed. "Okay. It is good to see you again--

"Yeah, it's been what? Days? Since I visited the SGC?"

"--even if you're mostly ignoring me."

"Hey, I'm not ignoring you! Vala just happens to be a better conversationalist...or at least louder. And it's hard to talk about stuff in front of her, and in a restaurant."

"Yeah. I have so much to tell you about the Ori, about the people we met on that--in that village. Jack, Fannis was just a historian, but he was willing to risk his life to help people he'd never met before just on the chance that we might be able to help him get the truth out to other people!" Daniel forgot to wash his hands for a moment.

"Just a historian? Like you're _just_ an archaeologist?"

"Yeah, I suppose so," Daniel answered thoughtfully. "I wish...but I can't stand here and tell you all this stuff in the men's room." He glanced around. "God! If I take _too_ long, Vala might come in after me."

Jack decided not to feed his friend's paranoia. "But we got some of the old gang back together."

"Where's Sam? I thought you'd want her here."

"I don't."

"Why not? She knows more about the tangible benefits of the Stargate program than anybody else!"

"Are you kidding? I'm doing everything I can to keep her _away_ from these people! Have you heard her talk about how the stuff we've brought back already is several _lifetimes_ worth of work? That's exactly what the Senator wants to hear! And I know she'd try to say the right things, but she's so damned enthusiastic about the gizmos they have at Area 51...." He stared at Daniel's hands. "I think you've gotten all the germs and have started taking off skin."

Daniel frowned but continued washing his hands mechanically. "Ok, so maybe that wouldn't be such a great plan. But why have Vala at the hearing? Landry said that was your idea."

"I thought more aliens would be more convincing!" Jack argued.

"Yes, I'm sure Vala has them really convinced we face a grave threat. To decency! He's a Republican, you know!" Daniel waved his hands, splattering Jack with drops of water. Jack stepped back. "Why not Nyan? He's an alien! And he actually _knows_ things! Useful things about other plan--other peoples and cultures, the threats that we face; you didn't invite _him_!"

"Nyan?" He pretended to search his memory. "Sideburns?" Daniel just looked annoyed. "He's shy! Look, she's seen the Ori. _You've_ seen the Ori. And you weren't going anywhere without her."

"Couldn't we have chained her to that row of chairs outside the hearing room?" Daniel finally turned off the water, shaking his hands a little over the sink. "Or sedated her and locked her in a nearby closet?" he muttered.

"You talked an alternate SGC into sacrificing itself to let you escape! You convinced an Unas to make you part of his tribe instead of eating you! You got the _Russians_ to lend us their DHD! And you couldn't persuade _one_ senator?" Jack said. 

"If I'd known about Vala, I'd have stayed in the alternate universe." 

"It was overrun by Goa'uld! They were trying to kill you!" Jack suddenly remembered where he was and glanced around the otherwise empty restroom. Surely they couldn't be heard outside.

"Exactly." 

Jack tried to look contrite. "I didn't realize she bothered you that much."

"Of course she bothers me! The only place I can go alone is the bathroom! And I keep looking over my shoulder to be sure she's not coming after me!" 

"So why don't you have Landry keep her locked up when you're at the SGC?"

"Like they had her prisoner on the _Prometheus_?"

"Okay." Jack sighed and held up his hands in defeat. "Dinner was a bad idea."

Daniel looked apologetic. "No, no, Jack; it's not that."

"Just Vala? She doesn't seem that bad!"

"You don't think she's that bad? You just can't imagine...." He grabbed Jack's arm with a damp hand. Jack looked pointedly at the hand, but Daniel didn't notice. "She just won't leave me alone. She's constantly making passes at me, at everyone around her. She told people she's carrying my baby!" Jack held his face absolutely rigid as he struggled not to laugh. Daniel would never forgive him. Well, he would, but not before the end of dinner. "Mitchell calls her my girlfriend! And he's pretty much a straight arrow; he's not like you...." Jack got a grip on himself and raised his eyebrows, but Daniel didn't seem to notice. He took his hand off Jack's sleeve so that it could join the other one waving in the air. "And the worst thing is that she won't shut up! No matter what I'm doing, she never, _ever_ , stops talking!" Jack couldn't answer; if he took a breath, he would lose it. He started to shake silently. "No," said Daniel, pointing an accusing finger at him. "Don't you dare. This is _not_ the same. I can't even work because she's always around, talking, going through my things--actually, that's more like _you_ than like me." Daniel started to cross his arms across himself before realizing that at least one hand was still damp and heading for the row of hand dryers. "But at least you would let me work sometimes!"

Through heroic effort, Jack managed not to laugh out loud, and he quickly changed to a safer subject. "So, still haven't found your razor, or what? I'm sure you can buy a new one." Daniel made a noise. "You never did tell me why you're trying to grow a beard."

"Not _trying_ ," Daniel muttered before punching the button on the dryer.

"Was it because Carter said Mitchell looks like you? Or did you think it would make you look older? Wait!" Jack paused dramatically. " _I_ know! You didn't want to look _military_ when the new general came on board!" Daniel kept rubbing his hands together as Jack advanced on him. "You didn't want to be bothered by long hair again, but the short hair, the boots you always wear now, the BDU's: you _coulda_ been Air Force, and you couldn't stand it! So you grew...that!" Daniel acted as if he couldn't hear Jack. "I know you can hear me!" Jack shouted from a few inches away. He noticed that Daniel's hands were by now quite dry.

"Can't miss Vala seeing the lobsters arrive." Daniel shouted back right before the dryer shut off. 

"Isn't that a little juvenile?" Jack shouted, unable to stop himself even as he realized that the dryer had stopped.

"Since when has juvenile bothered you?" Daniel shot back more quietly. "Surely the promotion hasn't gone to your head?" he added in mock horror. "Don't you have to go?" He nodded at the urinals and walked out. Jack glanced at the urinals and turned back to the door, nearly colliding with Landry, who had just walked in.

"What?! We're fine!"

Landry gave Jack a sharp look. "I'm not worried about you. I just really have to pee." Jack turned away, but Landry called, "Oh, and you should know: you seem to have gotten some water on your sleeve."

 

Jack was in time to see the entrées arrive. Vala looked at hers, frowned, and looked at Daniel; Jack could practically see the light bulb going on over her head as she compared her food to the steaks the two generals had and the lamb Teal'c had ordered. Daniel began eating without looking at her openly, and Vala watched to see how he attacked his food before doing the same.

"Delicious!" she exclaimed around a mouthful.

Daniel glared for just a moment and then went back to his lobster.

"So, I talked to Carter today," Jack said. Teal'c and Daniel looked at him expectantly. At least Daniel did. Jack wasn't absolutely sure that Teal'c's expression had changed.

"What'd she say?" Daniel asked. "How are things going there?"

"She said Teal'c should visit while he's still on--in the country." Teal'c did not respond.

"She should visit _us_ ," Daniel groused. "You'd think she'd come to look at the bracelets for herself. I asked her to come."

"Yeah, well, you know. It seems what's-his-name wasn't the only one who wasn't keeping proper records of what he found."

"Bricksdale?"

"What?"

"Bricksdale." Jack raised his eyebrows just to elicit a sigh from Daniel. "The scientist who was helping the Trust. You called him what's-his-name."

Jack waved a hand dismissively. 

"I'd have dropped everything if _she_ needed help," Daniel continued, stabbing his lobster. Vala was looking back and forth between Daniel and Jack as if watching a tennis match.

Landry put in, "She doesn't want Mitchell and Dr. Lee to think she didn't trust their judgment, and at this point Lee knows as much about that kind of technology as she does."

"And, _trust me_ , she has her hands full there," Jack added, giving Daniel a significant look to remind the archaeologist that he couldn't talk about details here. "She's knee deep in"--Jack held his nose and waved his other hand to indicate a bad smell--"security problems."

"Oh," Daniel seemed to catch his meaning at last. "She didn't really mention that."

"Well, you've been kind of busy."

"You know, Daniel, it's not nice to exclude your guest from the conversation," Vala said, nudging him with her shoulder.

"What?"

"I don't know this Sam person, so I can't very well converse."

"If you'd paid any attention to our videoconference, you _would_ know her. I introduced you," Daniel said pointedly. He smiled. "You really should meet Sam in person, though. I think you'd...get along like a house afire." He smiled.

Vala dropped her fork. "That's not funny!" Daniel lost the smile and flushed as Vala continued, "You can belittle me all you want, but that's just not funny. _You_ weren't the one who actually got burnt to a crisp!"

"I'm sorry! I didn't--I wasn't belittling--that's not what I meant."

"You were having a laugh at my expense." Daniel dropped his eyes, probably because it was true, though not in the way that Vala thought. "In case you didn't guess, burning to death is _not_ fun, it's actually quite painful--" She was so loud that everyone seemed to be turning to look. Jack waved his hands to try to shush her, but, since her face was so close to Daniel's that Jack expected his glasses to fog up, he wasn't surprised that she didn't notice.

"I know," Daniel said so quietly that even Teal'c had to lean forward to hear. "I _have_ burned to death. Radiation. It's slower." Vala leaned back and looked at him in amazement.

"You didn't tell her?" Jack hissed to Daniel, mindful that others were listening. He couldn't imagine Daniel not offering sympathy to Vala after her experience, but he didn't want to ask about that, so instead he said, "How could you not tell her? That year you spent with Oma might _possibly_ be relevant to dealing with our latest problem!"

"I did tell her!" Daniel said defensively. "I just didn't go into detail about how I...got to be with Oma. I _did_ mention the radiation; you just weren't paying attention," he added, turning back to Vala. 

Vala ignored the criticism. "How long?"

"A year."

"A year!"

"Oh, I mean, I spent a year...with Oma. Dying didn't take that long. Several hours. A day. I forget," Daniel lied.

"Why didn't you tell me?" 

"I don't know." Daniel dropped his gaze. "I guess I'd rather not think about it."

To Jack's surprise, Vala's expression softened, and she put a hand on Daniel's shoulder. 

"We were talking about ColonelCarter," Teal'c interjected smoothly.

"Oh, yeah! " said Daniel. "What I really meant was...you two would probably have a lot to say to each other."

"From what little I saw on screen, I don't think so," Vala said, giving Daniel's shoulder a slight squeeze before dropping her hand to go for more of her lobster. "I mean, she clearly knows some," she waved her fork, "science, but she's not really going to tell _me_ anything I can use, and she seems to go on _forever_ about nothing. She couldn't even help us with our little problem. And she dresses like a man and works _surrounded_ by them but doesn't look like she knows what to _do_ with them." Daniel gaped, and Jack heard Landry mutter, "And you do so well with them," but Vala kept going. "No wonder you and she get along. But I can't imagine what she and _I_ have in common." 

"You might like to chat!" threw in Jack. He paused a moment to allow Daniel to take a sip of wine before he spoke. "Girl talk?" Daniel choked and brought the napkin up to his mouth quickly. Damn. Jack was hoping for a full-blown spit take. 

"I'm being made fun of again, aren't I?" Vala asked, tossing her head to glare at them both in turn. 

"Not you," Daniel answered. He grinned at Jack. "You know I'll tell Sam you said that!"

"I still outrank her." Jack grinned back.

"If this dear friend of yours is too busy to come see us, Daniel, perhaps we should pay her a visit!" Vala said to Daniel, whose eyes grew wide.

" _We_ can't go to Area--I mean, no, not there, not you...." 

"I can see why Dr. Jackson has been so effective over the years," said Landry to Jack with a smile. "His eloquence continually astounds me."

"Colonel Maybourne once sought to take me to the location where Colonel Carter now works in order to experiment upon me," Teal'c reminded Daniel.

"That's right!" Daniel exclaimed. He looked thoughtful. "Maybe we _could_ go on a visit!"

Vala gave Daniel a sour look but then brightened as she set her fork down. "So, have you people ever heard of a course called 'dessert'?" she asked him.

 

It was time to head to the airport, and the van was waiting to take the whole group together. Before starting to his car, Jack grabbed Daniel and took him several paces away from the others while Vala was still marvelling at the desserts. She moved to follow, but Teal'c stepped into her path and asked her a question that Jack couldn't quite hear.

"How she can eat like that--" Daniel muttered.

"Look," said Jack. "You're gonna be okay...." He let the sentence hang, unsure whether it was reassurance or a question.

"Yes. If I don't kill her first. Teal'c says if she goes, I go." Daniel gave a hint of a smile. "It might be worth it." He looked at Jack closely, started to speak, hesitated, and then said carefully, "We do miss you, you know." 

Jack blinked and smiled broadly. It wouldn't do for a general to get too sentimental. "Of course you do!"

"Are you okay here? Really?"

"Yeah. It's more paper-pushing than I ever wanted, but I'm also helping to oversee the plans for the new ships and how we're gonna deploy them; I'm able to drop in on the construction from time to time, even. And I do see Carter up there once in a while. I'm doing a lot of the selection for the new crews. It's not like going through the 'gate, but my knees were getting too old for that anyway. Besides, I'm sick of snakes, and I'd probably just piss off these Oreo guys. And you know what? I've never been locked down in the Pentagon. I get to see the sunshine! I keep _business hours_ some days."

"And if you tell yourself this over and over you'll convince yourself?" Daniel smiled again. 

Jack snorted. "You're a big help."

"That's my job," said Daniel.

"Dr. Jackson?" Landry called.

"Yeah, well, keep doing your job," said Jack in a low voice. "I'm not sorry you didn't go on _Daedalus_. I want you at the SGC. Gotta have somebody there who really knows the place," he added.

Daniel looked surprised. "You picked Landry yourself!" 

"Daniel!" Vala called.

"I chose him, and I trust him, absolutely," Jack said. "With you there to advise him _._ Just like you advised me," he added, sticking his hands in his pockets. Daniel's mouth opened, but before anything came out, he had been grabbed and turned around. 

"Daniel!" Vala had made it past Teal'c. "General Landry says we'll be late." Landry was glaring at Daniel and Jack. Teal'c looked vaguely amused. Again.

"And we wouldn't want to miss our flight," said Daniel, walking towards the van. "Because then we'd have to wait in the airport for hours! Together!"

"For cryin' out loud, it's Air Force!" Jack said with exasperation. "It's not gonna leave without you!"

Landry smiled at Jack. "But _I_ might leave without them. We're getting back to the SGC ASAP." He practically pushed Daniel into the van.

"Good to see you're not getting bored without me around, Daniel!" Jack called. "Don't piss off any more...people than you have to!" He thought "aliens" might not be a good word to shout on the street.

"Bye, Jack!" Daniel called from inside the van. "Watch out for those papercuts!"

"Bye, Jack!" Vala imitated with great enthusiasm, stepping into the van but leaning back out in a way that emphasized her figure and how little was covering it. "It was lovely to meet you! I hope to see you again soon!" She vanished suddenly, as if she'd been yanked inside.

Jack walked over to Teal'c. "Keep an eye on them," he said, gesturing with his head. 

"Indeed," said Teal'c. "They are, as you would say, difficult to miss." He bowed slightly to Jack and got in the van.

Landry looked back at Jack. "Nice dinner, Jack; thanks! Not as spectacular as I thought, though," he said with a grin. "I never know what she's going to do. And I still don't have Jackson figured out."

"Join the club. Oh, and Hank?" said Jack. "Take care of my team." He added in a whisper, "or else."

Landry gave a little hand wave and climbed in. The door closed, and Jack watched until the van was completely out of sight to go back to his car. He thought frequent trips back to Cheyenne Mountain were definitely in order.

FIN


End file.
